122409: Heidi's Arrival in Delhi

“You must be hungry; you missed dinner on the plane.” I vaguely heard someone talk to me. Still half asleep, I mumbled “I ate dinner at the airport. I always do that.” I didn’t tell her my dinner had been really disappointing and that the food on the plane must have easily beaten it on taste. It’s not that I care that much about food; I think I’m pretty easily pleased with whatever is put in front of me. I can only tell when food is really crappy; and so I could tell from the Japanese near gate C123. The Indian woman, very friendly and obviously Americanized, continued to talk to me: “So how did you do that? We were so jealous of you! Dozing off for like eight hours straight! We slept maybe for 30 minutes. What’s your trick?” I had difficulty understanding her. “One moment,” I said, “I can’t hear you. I have earplugs in.”

Just five hours later the plane landed in Delhi. I was going to spend two weeks with Rabiya, whom in the one semester that we had become close friends at the university had made a forever lasting impression on me. I like to think of her as my Indian twin – personality-wise that is. I knew she would be standing among the crowd of people waiting for arrivals. It was around 11 pm in Delhi; and 1.30 pm in New York. I walked on the pathway and was swallowed by the two rows of those who were waiting at each side. I was sure she would see me first; but I still didn’t want to miss her just in case. And there she was, running towards me, with a bundle of pink roses I didn’t even notice at first. It had been eight months since we saw each other. And here we were, embracing each other in the airport in Delhi. What was left from the surroundings was just a blur.

Rabiya had to find her driver but her cell phone was dead. We were standing in front of two phone boots without any means to pay. Nowhere could we locate a slot to put in coins or use a credit card. When she dialed the number; I wondered whether it was a free phone service. She had to wake up her mom to ask her to call the driver since she didn’t know his number by heart; he had parked the car as they waited for my delayed arrival. Once she hung up, a ticket was printed and a person came by to collect cash. I wondered what I would have done… with the smallest I was carrying being a 20 dollar bill.

I am not sure how long the ride from the airport to Rabiya’s house was (she told me close to an hour afterwards). I had never been in a car with a right-seated driver. We had been chatting about, well what women like to chat about, and so I had totally forgotten time. It was funny because our India trip hadn’t started yet and we were planning a trip to Europe already. I was just feeling lucky to be sitting next to Rabiya; and the fact that I was in India with her hadn’t really filtered through. It was dark outside and hence I didn’t get many clues that I was abroad; I only knew I had taken a flight there. Once in front of the gate at her place, the driver started to blow the horn and I was worried her parents would wake up from the sound. The gate was secured as to prevent people to climb over. On our left, three men, one of which was on a bike, were talking. After maybe ten times blowing the horn, the gate opened and we drove into the property. Before we entered through a second gate to enter the part of the property containing the house and the garden, Rabiya assured me the dogs (two Dobbermans) were chained.

When we stepped inside, auntie (Rabiya’s mom) came to take a look. They had been sleeping already but the honking had wakened her up. I was so happy to see her back! After a short hug, Rabiya led me through part of the house. “Here is where we receive the guests,” she said as we went through the house, “and this is my bedroom… do you like it?” A big stuffed elephant was guarding her bed. I immediately loved the house she had grown up in. After dropping my luggage, I took a quick shower. Despite well-meant warnings not to even brush my teeth with tapped water, I had opened my mouth in the shower and was enjoying gurgling before I even realized what I was doing. Just seconds thereafter I couldn’t help myself but laugh with my own silliness; I’m sure I wouldn’t anymore if I was going to catch something that would chain me to the toilet. Later on Rabiya assured me that, even though she didn’t advise me to drink the water, all the water in the house was filtered by their own system. She thought I probably would be fine.

My first night was a very awake one. I don’t think I slept for five minutes and now I’m killing my early morning time by writing. Although Rabiya lives in the city, it is remarkably silent here. At around 5 am and 6 am I heard what I thought were morning prayers (Rabiya later explained to me these probably were first Hindi; later Muslim prayers). At around 7 am the dogs. Every now and then a sound almost from like a trumpet, but long and steady, which I couldn’t place. I just can’t wait for our first day to start. Rabiyaaaaaa, wake up!